


Stabdads

by Milcam



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Homestuck - Freeform, Humanstuck, Midnight Crew - Freeform, Sappy, Stabdads AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-31
Updated: 2017-03-22
Packaged: 2018-08-28 06:38:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,284
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8435368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Milcam/pseuds/Milcam
Summary: On a late night stroll, Deuce finds a couple of kids he's never seen. Of course, he can't help but feel bad for them.





	1. Chapter 1

 Clubs hummed a short melody as he walked, it was something of a habit he never really realized he did unless someone pointed it out telling him to stop. He was taking a late night stroll through town as a way to gather his thoughts. Not that he was upset or unhappy, but sometimes it was just nice to have a moment to yourself. Especially if that moment is a dark, clear evening with only the noise of a few cars now and then. Although suddenly the moment was interrupted. He had walked into something, no someone.

“Oh, excuse me!” He proclaimed. “I didn’t see yo-“ He cut himself off as he noticed that the someone actually was multiple people, multiple children in fact. And that he, lost in thought, had walked right into them. 

“Oh my gosh I’m so sorry, here, let me help you up.” He put his hand out to the kid he accidentally knocked over, a lanky boy, not older than seven, with short black hair and glasses. The boy hesitated slightly before taking it, but then grasped it and got up, mumbling a quiet thank you as he did. 

“Aren’t you awfully young to take a late night stroll in this area?” He asked as he inspected the kids. They really did look young, about five to eight years old he’d guess. And they weren’t wearing very good clothes either, no jackets and worn out shoes. ‘ _They must be freezing._ ’ He thought.The children didn’t say anything for a second, but then the oldest looking one, a girl, spoke up.

The children didn’t say anything for a second, but then the oldest looking one, a girl, spoke up.

“Yes. But we have to go to, uhh, go to, a greenhouse.” Deuce had no idea what that meant.

“A greenhouse? Like where you grow flowers?” He asked.

“No, a green house.” She said, frustrated that he didn’t understand. “Miss said we had to go to a greenhouse because, because they wanted us there.” The girl looked at the other kids, three smaller boys, so they’d confirm. They nodded in response, he could see that one of them was on the verge of tears.

“Miss?” He thought he might understand what was going on, there weren't that many green houses in this city. And not many places where kids get dumped by a "Miss" in the middle of the night either. "As in the Miss who takes care of you? And maybe other kids too?" 

The girl nodded, and so did the others.

"Why would she send you out this late? That seems awfully mean, you must be exhausted! Here, have my jacket you should sit down." Deuce handed them his jacket so they wouldn't have to sit directly on the sidewalk. And as they sat down the boy he helped up answered his question.

"She didn't, we got lotht." He had a clear lisp, and his voice was small and quiet from tiredness.

"Oh, you poor things! How long have you been walking? You must be so tired!" He frowned, this really wasn't good. They were very much too young to be out this late, and this city wasn't the safest either. Really the best thing he could do would be to bring them somewhere safe so they could sleep. And if it really was the greenhouse he thought they meant, he should probably contact the rest of the Crew.  

The kids shrugged tiredly, they were leaning against each other sitting on his jacket, almost too tired to keep their eyes open.

"You know what? I'm going to call my friend, he works pretty close to here, maybe he can come and take you guys somewhere where you can sleep over night, sounds good?"

They only answered with tired "hmm"'s.

Clubs picked up his phone from his pocket and dialled Droog's number. His tailor shop wasn't too far from where they were and if he was lucky he'd still be there. 

 

"Hey, it's Deuce."

"A bit too late for a call don't you think?" Droog answered cooly.

"Yeah, I know, sorry about that. Are you still in your shop?"

"Just finishing up, why?"

"Great, and you have your car?"

"Of course I have my car, what's this about?"

"It's a bit complicated, but could you come pick me up as soon as possible? I'll send you the address. Bring blankets."

"Blankets? Deuce what is this? You better not have gotten yourself into anything-"

"No! Nothing like that, just, come pretty fast, alright?"

Droog sighed "Fine. I'll see if I can find any blankets, send the address." He hung up.

 

Deuce gave the kids a reassuring smile, sent the address, and sat down facing them, to be on the same eye level. "That was my friend just now, he's gonna come pick us up, you can sleep at his place over night. He's a bit strict, but he's a good guy." Deuce really wasn't sure if that was true. "So what are you guys' names? And how old are you? You seem pretty young."

The girl was the first to speak again. "Aradia, I'm eight, not that young." She crossed her arms.

Next was the boy he had helped up, the one with a lisp. "Thollux, m'theven, and tho ith Karkat." The boy, apparently named Karkat, was shorter than Sollux, but not as skinny. He was hugging his legs and gave Deuce a sullen look.  

Last was the smallest looking boy. He hadn't said anything so far and had a round face with freckles, his hair was dark just like all the others. He looked down. "I'm... uh, I'm..." Aradia finished his sentence. "Tavros, that's Tavros. He's six." She took his hand. 

Deuce smiled at all of them. "Nice to meet you! I'm Clubs Deuce."

"Thath a weird name." Sollux said. 

"Heh, I guess it is."

They kept up the small talk until Deuce saw a car park a few meters away from them. He recognized it as Droog's and watched him step out from the driver's seat and slam the door. Droog was a tall man, 6'4" at least, slim, and well dressed in a black suit and tie. As he walked over to them he lit up a cigarette. He stopped in front of Deuce, gave him a sceptical look and then gazed over the children. 

"That's what the blankets for?"

Deuce stood up after giving the kids a quick smile and nodded towards him. "Yes, they said uh, they were supposed to go to the 'green house' you know, The Felt."

"Yes, I know which colour the Felt has, they're not subtle." He looked at the kids again, both sceptical and confused. They looked small, tired, and probably cold. Even if it was August the evening wasn't very warm, and they didn't have jackets. He raised his eyebrows. "Can't see what they'd want with a bunch of waifs though." 

"Not sure, but we can't- we can't let them go there can we?" He spoke quietly hoping the kids wouldn't hear. 

"No. We should just dump them at the nearest orphanage, not our business."

"Come on Droog. They're exhausted, we can't just drop them off, they need sleep. I thought maybe... I mean, that's why I called you. Your apartment under the store, there's a couch and beds there right?"

 Droog gave him a look of disbelief. "You're seriously overstepping boundaries here, Deuce. I am _not_ running a daycare."

"I know, I know. Just overnight. Please, they seem like sweet kids. And if we just drop them off at the orphanage I bet they'd be asked questions. Wouldn't take that long to figure out which orphanage they came from and send them back. And then they'd probably be sent to the Felt again!"

"Fine. You're right. Just this one night. Then we figure out what to do with them tomorrow." 

Deuce gave him a big grin and then turned to the kids. "Good news! You can sleep at Droog's place over night, then we'll figure out something tomorrow. Sounds good?" 

 

After everyone agreeing it was preferable to sleep somewhere inside than sitting on the pavement in the cold Deuce ushered them towards the car. Gave them the blankets, and made sure they were all buckled up. Since the car only had three back seats they were a bit cramped, but the kids were happy just to sit somewhere soft and were too tired to start a fuss, so it wasn't a problem. And then they were off. It wasn't more than a five-minute drive but when Droog parked outside his shop the kids had already fallen asleep. 

"If you go unlock the door I'll take one of them then you take one, and then we'll take the other two. I think that's the best way not to wake them." 

Droog gave him an annoyed look but did as he said anyway. If they woke up and started crying it would be even worse. So after opening the door for Deuce carrying a lanky boy with glasses, he went to the car and took the next kid. It was the girl. He hadn't asked for their names so he didn't know who she was, but it hit him how  _small_ she was, probably around 4 feet or so. She had dark, curly hair, and her skin was tan. He caught himself wondering how'd she'd end up where she did, dead parents or something probably. 

 He met Deuce again as he was walking down the stairs to the apartment. The apartment wasn't his home, it was just a place he slept sometimes when he was too tired to drive home from the store. It had followed with when he had bought the premise to the store, but since he already had his own place he didn't bother too much with it. There were four rooms, a lounge, a kitchen, and a bathroom. None of it was particularly big, but it worked well as a neutral place to hold meetings and plans for the Crew. Right down the stairs were a lounge with a lone couch, a small table, and a rug. It had an entrance to the kitchen to the left, a corridor leading into Droog's part time bedroom, the bathroom, and two other empty rooms up ahead, and to the right was the last room, which was also empty with the exception of a mattress.

 He noticed that Deuce had laid the kid on the couch and given him a blanket, so Droog followed suit and laid down the girl on the other side of the couch, giving her a bit of the blanket as well. After making sure she looked at least somewhat comfortable he went upstairs again, meeting Deuce in the stairs once again, this time with him holding another kid. He walked out to the car and after taking the child, a pretty short boy with spiky black hair, he locked the car and then the store after stepping inside, turning off the lights as well. The neatly ironed suits hanging on racks throughout the store looked like countless well-dressed ghosts as he closed the door leading down the stairs after him. As he came down to the lounge he saw that Deuce had taken the mattress from one of the rooms and put it on the rug in front of the couch. He had then put down the kid on it and given that one a blanket as well. Droog walked up to the mattress and did the same as he had before with the girl. Put him down on the other side of the mattress and gave him a part of the blanket as well. 

 Carefully, as to not wake any of the kids he walked into the kitchen where Deuce was already sitting at the table. He had started a pot of coffee, which Droog was thankful for, he shot a look at the clock hanging on the wall and saw that it was a bit over 11. Walking right past Deuce over the beige plastic mat floor he took a mug from one of the cupboards over the counter and poured himself some coffee. He didn't ask if Deuce wanted any. After sipping his coffee in silence for a while he finally walked over to the table and sat down facing Deuce. The shorter man was looking down at his hands, twisting them anxiously.

"So," he started.

"Yes." 

"Uh, I guess we should figure out what we should do?"

"That would be optimal. And since it was _you_ who got us into this in the first place I'd love to hear how you plan on getting us out of it." Droog shot back.

"Well we, we know that they were going to the Felt, but uh, we don't know why. So maybe we should try to figure that out? Because I don't think it would be good if they go there now, or anytime, and if we give them back to the orphanage they're probably gonna get asked, or tell anyway, which orphanage they came from first. And then they'll be sent back and probably be taken to the Felt again so, that's not good. 

"No, that is not good." He answered quickly and rubbed his temples, he thought he was about to get a headache. "Why would the Felt want kids, aren't they already numerous enough?"

"Well, I was thinking that maybe, you know, maybe. Uhh, predecessors? Like train them up, and make sure they have someone else who take cares of business and, and those things." He looked down again, he was fiddling with the button on his right shirt sleeve. 

Droog was quiet for a moment. "That... that might not be a bad idea." He straightened his back and clasped his hands in front of him. "But even if it is so, they're most definitely going to get some other kids now when these won't come."

"Probably... but don't you think that if the Felt's doing it. Shouldn't we too? I mean, we won't be here forever. Would be nice with someone continuing. For a bit at least."

"Are you seriously telling me you're considering  _keeping_ them?"

"It would be nicer than letting them off at an orphanage! You saw how small they were, and I've heard several times that orphanages aren't very nice so."

"No. No way. We are  _not_ keeping them. How would we care for them? Where would they live? Who's gonna take them to school? Feed them? Children are  _living beings_ Deuce. They crave effort, patience, and time. We don't have much of either of that. Not to mention. What would Jack say about this? Do you seriously think that he would agree with keeping a bunch of kids you found off the street?"

"We could hire a nanny! And I don't know about Jack, but if we explain the thing with the Felt then maybe... Because if the Felt gets some other kids then they're still gonna grow in number, but we're still just four."

"And you're fine with the thought of raising children to become mobsters? Do you know how high the fatality rate of being a mobster is? Pretty damn high!"

"I didn't mean that we should force them, they're people, they can do what they want. But still, if the Felt is doing it shouldn't we too? They're already more than twice our numbers so it makes sense to get someone else on our team don't ya think?"

"What I think is that we should ask the others about this tomorrow. It's a big question that affects all of us."

"Yeah, I think you're right. I'm gonna go sleep. I padded the bathtub with some pillows so, gonna sleep there. See ya tomorrow."

Deuce exited the kitchen and Droog heard him close the door to the bathroom after him. He remained at the table, stirring in his coffee mug and taking a few sips now and then, after a while a lit another cigarette. ' _Could this possibly be a good idea?_ ' He thought. ' _No way, there is zero chance it could be, there is no way this doesn't only lead to trouble. We'd fuck them up, I don't know how to care for children. Seriously doubt any of the others do either. But... it is true, the Felt are bigger than us, significantly, and if they are planning on getting descendants either way then, well. Why shouldn't we? And a nanny might not be such a bad idea, some extra pay and she'll probably not ask any uncomfortable questions. And the shop is a good alibi, which is good it's what I intended it to be, and it gives me a steady income with plenty over for possible child expenses. There have been several customers wondering "how my family is" anyway so a kid running around the shop shouldn't be too hard to explai_ -'

 Suddenly his train of thought was interrupted by a soft knock coming from the doorframe. He looked up and saw the small girl looking up at him. She had circles under her eyes from tiredness and her hair was tousled.

“I uhm, I was hungry."

Droog looked at her for a brief moment in disbelief. "Uh," he wasn't really sure what to do. "I think there's some bread in the pantry."

She shrugged and walked to the table, climbing up on one of the chairs. "Bread's nice."

Droog raised his eyebrows and got up from his chair to check the pantry. He usually wasn’t down here much so the food supply was low, but he remembered for sure that he had bought some bread just a week ago. After searching for a while he found the bread, some cheese, and also a box of chocolate Boxcars must’ve hidden away on a meeting. The guy was impossible with snacks, he had them everywhere.

He placed it on the table and gave the girl a plate. “It’s not much but it’s this or be hungry.”

She made herself a sandwich, but before even taking a bite she went straight for the chocolate. He didn't think that was surprising, he didn't know much about kids except that they liked candy and screamed a lot. Although these ones mostly seemed tired this far.

“What’s your name?” She asked after eating half of the chocolate.

“Droog, and you are?”

“Aradia, and that’s a weird name too.”

Droog smirked. "Aradia isn't very common either.” She didn’t answer that.

It was quiet for a while before Aradia looked up from her chocolate. She saw his cup and pointed at it. “What are you drinking?”

“Coffee.”

“Can I taste?”

“Go for it.” He passed the cup to her. She picked it up and smelled it, making a face. She took a small gulp and gagged.

“That’s gross! Why are you drinking that?” Droog let out a chuckle.

“It’s nice.” He smiled.

“You’re weird.”

Maybe this wasn't so bad.


	2. Chapter 2

Droog woke up disoriented, the night's events were a confusing blur before they came back to him. He had been in the kitchen with Aradia, keeping her company more than talking, up till early morning before he realized what time it was and sent her to "bed". She had been pretty sensible for an eight-year-old he remembered, she had told them how the orphanage matron had sent them away to the "green house" in the afternoon but they'd gotten lost. It wasn't such a surprise when he thought about it, most orphanages were on the verge of bursting, so the matron would be happy with a few mouths less to feed and she probably got paid quite well for them too. 

 He got out of bed and started getting dressed, a clean black suit, and his hat. As he walked into the living room he saw the kids still sleeping, he was thankful for that. Deuce had probably not woken up either because if he had Droog was almost certain he would've woken the children trying to climb out the bath tub. Making his way to the kitchen he realized he'd have to go shopping, they all needed breakfast and the stale bread he'd offered Aradia yesterday definitely wouldn't do. So as the coffee pot was brewing he wrote a quick note explaining where he went in case anyone would wake up. He then drank his coffee standing up, leaning against the counter. This was all such a mess, he'd have to call Jack later to explain the situation, and just the thought of that conversation made him groan. He rubbed his temples if this wouldn't be the death of him the following headache definitely would. After placing his empty cup in the sink he quickly made his way to the car, pulling his phone out from his pocket as he went.  When he had started the car and was on his way he finally dialled Slick's number and waited for an answer.

"It's 8 a.m on a Saturday whoever this is better have a good reason."

"It's me, Slick."

"The fuck you want?"

"A... situation, came up. I'd think you'd want a say in this."

"A job?"

"More like... kids."

It was silent for a moment. "What the FUCK is that supposed to mean?"

Droog sighed. "Long story short, Deuce found a bunch'a waifs last night, brought them to my apartment under the store, now they're sleeping on the couch and I'm buying breakfast. What do you think we should do with them? It's also worth mentioning they were going to the Felt."

Slick was silent again. "It's way too early for this."

"It is."

"Well, get them back to the nearest orphanage, we ain't no daycare. And if they had ties to the Felt I don't wanna meddle with it."

"I know, but Deuce was thinking of... successors. It's likely that's what the Felt wanted with them as well. And they never got to the Felt anyway."

"Of course this is Deuce's fault. Remind me to punch his lights out when I get there."

"Absolutely, so what should we do?"

"What we should do is get rid of them as quick as possible."

"Correct, but as much as I hate to say it Deuce does have a point. Successors could be a good idea, the problem is how we'd get it to work. None of us can take care of kids. Deuce suggested a Nanny which I guess could work but-"

Slick interrupted him with a harsh laugh. "You're not going soft on me are you? Sounds to me you wanna keep 'em pretty bad, heh." He laughed again.

"On the contrary," Droog said dryly. "I'm just thinking logically, the Felt are most certainly gonna get new people now when we took these, and while they are expanding we're still just four people. Say what you want but that ain't a lot."

"Four people's just enough for me, hadn't had any trouble this far have we? Who would take care of them? Deuce? Sure I don't like kids but I wouldn't wanna kill them either, which is, admittedly, what would happen."

Droog sighed. “I suppose I could stay with them in the apartment. I already have an alibi with that and it wouldn’t be so strange if it turned out I had...” He traced of for a bit. “Kids.” He finished.

"We're _not_ keeping them Droog."

 Droog sighed. "I know, but get to the hideout in an hour anyway. And bring Boxcars as well, I think we need to discuss this together."

 "Fine."

 Droog hung up and let out one last sigh. He knew keeping the kids would be disastrous but a small part of him kept insisting that it wouldn't be so bad. They could become good assets to the Crew, and if the Felt were already planning this why should the Crew be behind? Droog was certain he would at the least make a better teacher than anyone in the Felt

 

 

 

\-----

 

 

 

Deuce woke up by a faint push on his arm. He groaned and tried to turn over and drag his blanket over him, only to realize that his bed was really hard, and his blanket was way thinner then normally. He fumbled around a bit, trying to sit up and locate himself, he was still wearing his suit he realized. As he finally got up into a sitting position he was greeted by a pair of mismatched eyes and tangled hair looking up at him.

 "Why are you in the bathtub?" the mismatched eyes asked. They belonged to a scrawny boy he saw, for a moment he was very confused.

 "The bathtub?" He asked. Suddenly he remembered the last nights events. Finding the kids, bringing them here, going to sleep in the bathtub. "Ohh... Haha, well it seemed like a nice place to sleep!" He stretched out his arms and made an exaggerated yawn. "Bit cold though." He smiled. "How was your sleep?"

 The boy, Sollux he remembered, laughed. "It wath okay. Thankth for giving uth the couch."

 "No problem, boy." Deuce smiled again. "Is everyone else awake too?"

 "Yeth."

 "Well then, I should probably get out of the tub and see how you are don't you think? You must be hungry, no?"

 "A bit"

Deuce climbed out of the bathtub, straightening his suit and patting down some wrinkles. While he wasn't as neat as Droog, having a nice suit was still a priority. He gave a smile to Sollux and went out of the bathroom into the living room. The kids where still half a sleep, sitting up hugging their blankets and looking around the room trying to orient themselves. When they saw Deuce standing in the doorway they quickly tried to get up, wiping the sleep away from their eyes. 

"Morning!" He greeted them. "Had a nice sleep?" 

They looked at each other, uncertain how to respond. "Y-yeah." One of the boys said, Deuce was pretty sure it was the one named Tavros. All of them had such peculiar names. "W-what's your name?" Tavros asked. "You were nice."

Deuce let out a small laugh. "Why thank you, I try. And it's Deuce. I thought I told you that yesterday?" He smiled again, he wanted to make sure the kids didn't feel scared of him, from what he'd gathered they hadn't really had it easy. 

Tavros looked down and shrugged. "Where's the other one?" It was the girl speaking this time. She seemed braver than the boys, Deuce was pretty sure she was the oldest too.

"Oh, Droog? He's probably still asleep. Are you guys hungry? You were up pretty late yesterday as well."

All of them nodded.

"Thought so, I'll go to the kitchen and see if I can prepare something. You can stay here and wake up a bit more. And I'm pretty sure there are some board games around here somewhere, you can search for that in the meantime."Making his way to the kitchen he heard the kids shuffling searching in various closets and drawers for some games.

The first thing Deuce noticed when he entered the kitchen was the note on the table.

"Went to buy breakfast, back in 30 - Droog" 

_So that's where you are_ _._  Deuce looked at the clock over the door frame, almost half past nine. He wasn't sure when Droog had left but he'd probably be back soon, he always woke up so early. Since he couldn't start preparing breakfast Deuce decided to make the table instead. It took a while to find all the plates and the chairs ran out so he had to search around the entire apartment for something else before finally deciding just to stand by the counter instead. But just as he was done he heard the slam of the door upstairs and went into the living room.

"Breakfast's here." He told the kids as Droog went down the stairs with his arms full of grocery bags. "Want some help?" Deuce asked.

"I got it." Droog said. "Slick and Boxcars'll get here in a while, just so you know."

"Oh"

"Hm." They made their way into the kitchen, the kids following them cautiously. Droog placed the brown grocery bags on the counter, packing up various breakfast items like cereal (just corn flakes, no sugar bombs), bread, yogurt, and some fruit. "I wasn't sure what you'd want but I need to restock down here anyways so I bought a bit of everything." He said into thin air, unsure what to make of himself. The kids had already sat down by the table he noticed.

It was silent for a moment. "Can I have some cereal?" Aradia asked. "Me too." Said one of the boys, he had brown eyes.

"Of course." Deuce was already setting things out on the table, then poured them a bowl each, and one for himself. Giving the kids another smile. The other boys were serving them selfs some toast.

Droog suddenly felt very uncomfortable. Kids wasn't something he was used to and he had no idea how to act around them, it was strange seeing how casual Deuce could act around them.  He looked around the small kitchen to try and distract himself, it was a pretty pale, and plain room. Just enough for an oven and stove, a sink, some wooden colored cupboards, a coffee maker, a small fridge, and the table. The latter was currently occupied by four small humans who seemed just as confused why they were there as him. His gaze went over to the coffee maker, he'd already had a some earlier but he still grabbed a cup from the cupboard and made himself a new one. Taking a sip he noticed Aradia grimacing at him, he caught himself smiling.

"Sure you don't want some?" 

She nodded furiously, pressing her lips together, making Droog let out a small laugh.

The kitchen was silent except for the noise of plates and glasses scraping against each other.

"What's going to happen to us?" The smallest boy asked quietly, the question was directed at Aradia, who shrugged in response. Droog hadn't heard him speak before and wasn't really sure what his name was.

"We'll see." Assured Deuce. "Some other people are going to come over soon and we'll talk a bit about what'll happen. You see, the green house you were supposed to go to yesterday? The people living there aren't very nice. So we want to make sure you don't go back there, does that make sense? But if you have another place you'd rather go we'll take you there, okay?" He smiled kindly at the boy.

He shook his head. "Not really." His voice was really quiet, barely louder than a whisper. 

"C-can we stay here? If, if we want?" It was another boy this time, the one asking for cereal.

"Perhaps." Droog said. "We need to speak with our friends first, as Deuce said. They'll probably be here soon as a matter of fact." He glanced at his wristwatch, 10:03, he hadn't really expected them to be on time. "So if you're done I'm going to clean up."

The kids murmured something that sounded like various stages of "yes." So Droog and Deuce started cleaning up while the kids finished the last bites of their cereal and sandwiches before returning to the living room. From the sounds of it they had found some kind of game.

"Do you want them to stay?" Deuce asked while putting away a cereal box.

Droog sighed. "I think successors would be a good idea, but we can  _not_ take care of kids. Just  _think_ about all the paperwork." Droog responded, as he was cleaning a plate.

"Ouch, don't mention that to Slick."

"Exactly. Not to mention, even if we managed to get a Nanny, they're expensive. And we'd have to pay extra making her stay quiet, education is expensive as well and they need clothes, food, health care. That's a lot of money Deuce."

"Yeah... But where else would they go? You heard what Karkat said, there's no other place they want to go."

Droog was silent for a moment. "How did you _ever_ manage to become a mobster?"

"Haha, who knows. I just think it'd be a shame to leave them to an orphanage again." He wiped away the crumbs from the table.

Droog hummed in response. 

There was a loud knock coming from the door. Deuce shot Droog a quick glance before hurrying out to the living room, Droog slowly following.

Deuce made his way to the kids to get their attention. "Hey," He said to them. "Those are our friends at the door. Now, they're not mean or anything, but they can be a bit scary if you don't know them. So if you want to go into one of the bedrooms or another room while they're here that's okay. We're going to talk for a while and then we'll see what'll happen." He gave a reassuring smile as Droog went to open the door. 

Slick entered first, pushing ahead of Droog with a courteous nod. As he walked down the stairs he gave the kids an examining look before hanging of his jacket and hat at the coat hanger under the stairs. With his left eye shut and covered by a big scar running down all the way to his cheekbone, he didn't really look like the nicest guy around. He had a prominent jaw, full of stubble, he looked quite strong, but didn't have an excessive amount of muscles, and he was shorter than Droog. 

The other man who entered made everyone else in the room look like midgets in comparison. From the looks of it, he could snap a person in half and make it look easy, his shoulders were so broad he almost had to turn sideways coming through the door. Unlike Slick he was clean shaven, but his face was full of scars, instead of Slick's one. There were two on his lips, his eyebrows had both been split more than three times each leaving them uneven and slightly crooked, although his nose made the eyebrows look near normal, it had been broken so many times it was a wonder it hadn't fallen off completely. 

It went without saying that they both looked quite intimidating, and the children tried to make them self look as small as possible in a futile attempt to not get noticed. Sollux was clinging to Aradia, trying to hide behind her and pressing his head against her shoulder. While Karkat and Tavros sunk so low into their seats that they were almost lying down. Deuce tried to shoot them all reassuring smiles but none would look up. 

"Let's talk in the kitchen." Droog sighed.

"Let's." Slick agreed, quickly rushing to the kitchen giving the kids a last glance making them look slide down even further in their seats. The others followed, but right before Boxcars entered he turned and gave the kids a faint smile and a nod. Tavros responded with a shaky wave.

As the entirety of the Midnight Crew sat down in the small kitchen it was difficult not thinking about how absolutely absurd the situation was. Usually they only gathered like this when there was a big job that needed planning. Otherways they all mostly just did their own things. Droog worked the store, Boxcars worked for a small security company as a guard, Deuce was a freelancer, and Slick... he was really the only one doing the criminal thing full time. He was a quite skilled hitman (under another false identity of course) getting hired frequently by various people wishing to rid themselves of husbands, wives, bosses, you name it.

"So," Droog started. "As you know Deuce got all of us dragged into a..." He stopped to give his fellow Crew member a stare that could make the devil himself want to jump into a hole and disappear. "Situation. According to them, they were on their way to The Felt, presumably they were going to use them as successors. We don't know much about the kids other than they're from some sort of orphanage. The question now is what we're supposed to do with them."

"Easy, drop them off at another orphanage. Done." Slick shot back, clearly annoyed.

"That would be easiest." Droog agreed." "But if The Felt wanted successors and failed the first time it's likely they'll try again, they're already outnumbering us by more than our double. It would be foolish not to shoot back with the same. And, even if we drop them off at another one they're going to get asked where they came from. And they're most certainly going to tell which orphanage the were from first and be returned there."

"I agree with Droog." Deuce said quickly.

"No one asked you, idiot." Slick was hungover and did not want to be there, why Deuce even was part of his Crew was beyond him. He turned to Droog again. "And who'll raise 'em? You? I won't that's for damn sure."

"In lack of other alternatives I suppose... yes. This apartment is big enough, I know people who can fix their papers, and it shouldn't be too hard finding a nice lady willing to get some extra pay looking after some of kids. Why I'm fairly certain you know a nurse who would make the cut."

"You keep Penny out'a this." Slick hissed. His breath stank of last nights whiskey. "How'bout you, Boxcars? Think kids'd be a good idea?"

"As long as I don't have to deal with them. Plus they need to toughen up." He spoke briefly in a deep voice.

" _Seriously_?" Slick looked at the big man in disbelief. 

Droog gave Boxcars an approving nod. "Let's vote, just to have it over with. Everyone for keeping the children raise your hand." Everyone except Slick raised their hand.

"Seems like we just got kids." Deuce's grin was so wide it was almost touching his ears.

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINALLY. Bleh I'm so sorry I took so long to update, there were some personal things I had to go through and school has been really busy lately. I didn't really know how to continue either so I hope this chapter is okay, and hopefully, I'll be faster with updating in the future!   
> (HAHA update faster what a joke, but well I've updated the chapters so a new one should come soon, or like in another year)


	3. Chapter 3

"Hey, Aradia?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think we'll get to stay here?"

 She looked down at the boy sitting next to her. She couldn't quite remember when she'd first met Sollux, or how they'd become friends. In her mind they'd just always been together, although she was certain she was older than him, so he must have arrived at the orphanage after her. Same with the other boys, but them she could remember meeting. Tavros was small and careful making him an easy target, so she made sure to talk with him, invite him to sit with her and Sollux, make conversation, that kind of thing. Just to make sure the other kids would know that he wasn't a  _completely_ free target. And evidently, it worked, he didn't get teased too bad and eventually he became a part of her and Solluxs' group.

 Karkat was almost the complete opposite. He had come to the orphanage last of them all and been loud and troublesome ever since the beginning. Maybe he wasn't really the one  _starting_ the fights, claiming that would be unfair. But he was the one who screamed loudest and fought back for every little provocation. His behaviour had first made Aradia and Tavros want to stay away from him, Tavros because he was a bit scared, and Aradia because she found his temper annoying. Sollux, however, was more intrigued, and one day he had shouted something at him as he walked past. Aradia couldn't really remember what he had said, but Karkat had reacted just like Sollux had probably thought. By shouting something mean back and shoving him to the ground. Sollux immediately started fighting back as soon as he got back up again, kicking Karkat's leg.

 They had fought like that for a while until one of the caretakers had broken them up, both crying from anger and pain. Later they had been forced to make up, and after a sullen and reluctant hug and two mumbled "Sorry"s  they actually started hanging out. Much to Aradia's and Tavros' surprise Sollux started to invite Karkat to sit with them during meals, to play games, and other social activities. And even though he still could (and would) get angry, they found themselves liking him more and more, appreciating his jokes and games. Not to mention how good he was at cheering any of them up when they were sad, and so it didn't take long after that until he was in their group as well.

 She thought a bit before answering. "Yeah, they're nice, much nicer than Miss at the orphanage. And Deuce is funny."

"I liked him." Tavros shot in, "The other one was scary."

"No he wasn't, you're just a wimp."

"Karkat that's mean, and you were scared of him too," Aradia said.

"Was not."

"Was too."

"Was NOT."

"Whatever, but he's nice too, but he drinks gross things."

"How do _you_ know?" Sollux asked.

"I talked with him yesterday, I got chocolate. And I got to try his drink but it was really gross, I think it's because he's an adult."

"Probably, adulth are weird," Sollux answered.

 It got quiet after that. The kids had gone into Droog's bedroom as quick as the grownups had entered the kitchen, not because they were scared or anything, but because it felt a bit safer to not be in the same room as the adults.

 Just like the rest of the apartment the room was quite bland, white walls, plastic mat floor, a wooden closet in the corner, and twin-sized bed with grey sheets in the middle. There were no paintings or photos of any kind to make the room seem more personalized. There wasn't even an ugly potted plant by the closet. It was plain to see that Droog didn't spend much time down here. It smelled like basement and the little furniture there was were dusty and should probably be replaced.

The kids sat in strained silence for about five minutes that felt like an hour before there came a soft knock on the door.

 The door opened and Deuce entered, a big smile on his face. "Good news children! We've agreed you can stay, isn't that great? Come on out, you should meet Slick and Boxcars before they go." He gave them another smile and waited for them to get off the floor and follow him back to the kitchen. The children gave each other cautious looks before rising from the floor. They were, of course, happy to be able to stay, but right now the fear of having to face the two intimidating men from before was overpowering that joy quite a lot.

They made their way into the kitchen where Droog, Slick, and Boxcars were seated at the table. The latter two with a strained look on their faces, and the first with an expression hard to place.

"So here are the kids!" Deuce exclaimed happily as he entered. "Come now don't be shy," he gave Sollux a reassuring pat on the shoulder, he and the rest were hiding behind him, trying not be seen. Carefully he scuffed them in front of himself and introduced them to the grumpy men at the table. Pointing at each kid as he said their name. "Now, this is Sollux, Tavros, Karkat, and Aradia! They are very polite kids and I'm certain they won't make any trouble." He smiled down at them expectantly.

 

\---

 

"Hello." Aradia was the first to say something, her voice sounded curious and only faltered a little. Droog wasn't too surprised, she had shown multiple times that she was braver than the boys. She might even make a decent mobster, maybe. He watched as she examined the other two men at the table, avoiding eye contact but determined to figure out who they were nonetheless. 

Unsurprisingly neither Slick nor Boxcars replied. Although Boxcars gave a nod in response, that was a bit surprising. Even the fact that he had agreed to this had been a shock. But to be fair, Boxcars wasn't too bad of a guy, sure he got his issues, but who didn't. 

The boys were still half-hiding behind Deuce, however, one of them, Karkat, Droog was pretty sure that was his name. seemed to be trying to get the courage to say something. After he'd taken some deep breaths he finally stepped to the side of Deuce, his face was quite red.

"HI." His voice was  _a bit_ too loud than what would be considered socially acceptable, almost half screaming. Droog guessed, or rather hoped, it was due to nerves. Whatever it was the kid's face had become drastically redder and he seemed to consider running away. It was quiet for a moment before Slick let out a snort, "Charming." He sent the kid a condescending look and let out another snort. By now the kid was so red he might accidentally be mistaken for a tomato, he was looking down and hurried back to behind Deuce who gave him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder to reassure him it was fine. 

Slick suddenly rose from his chair, "Well. This has been absolutely  _delightful._ Really, completely charmed.  _So_ sorry that I have to leave, really I'd  _love_ to stay-"  "Slick," Droog tried to cut him off. "You all seem like such an  _asset_ , wow, I can't even believe how-" " _Slick_ _."_

He was making his way to the door, briefly passing Deuce and giving him a condescending look before turning his head to Droog. " _What_ _?"_  He knocked out with his arms as excessively as possible.

"Don't be rude." Droog said cooly, his eyes narrowing. 

Slick shrugged, grabbed his hat from the coat hanger, and disappeared up the stairs. They could hear the faint ringing of the bell on the door as he exited the shop upstairs. 

There was silence for a moment before Droog let out a sigh.

"It didn't go  _so_ bad though, right?" Deuce asked. He turned to the kids, Karkat's face was still red, and from the looks of it, he might start crying. Aradia seemed to be trying to look as nonchalant as possible, looking at everything except him or anyone else. Both Sollux and Tavros were just looking down at the floor. Realizing that maybe it wasn't so great he tried to pat Karkat's shoulder in an attempt to make him feel better.

"Hey, boy. It's alright. Slick just is like that. It ain't your fault, alright?" Still gripping Karkat's shoulder he tried to get eye contact. It took a moment but finally, the boy looked back at him, so Deuce shot him a small smile to try and calm him down. He got a sniffle in response. Followed by him immediately raising his arm to wipe his nose. 

Droog examined them for a second before turning to Boxcars. Still sitting at the table with his hands clasped, looking more and more uncomfortable for each second. "What do you think we should do, Boxcars?" He hoped that the uncertainty he felt wasn't heard in his voice. 

"About what?" He shifted a bit in his seat. The chair almost looked like a child toy with him on it. 

"About, this." He gestured his hands towards Deuce and the kids. "There's a lot of things that need taking care off, I'd need to fix this place up, buy beds, clothes. For god's sake, they don't even have any other clothes than the ones they're wearing." He ran his hand through his hair, this would be difficult.

"I think you should do the things needed to be done as fast as possible. Better to have it over with." Boxcars crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair as well as he could. By now Deuce seemed to have moved the kids to the lounge trying to keep them occupied. "You and him got us into this, nothin' but fair that you take care of it."

"I know, I know." He rested his head in his hands. "You can leave as well, there's not much else to decide. I'm going to head out, at least." He rose from the table and headed out to the lounge, turning to Deuce and the kids. They were playing some kind of card game by the couch.

"Deuce, I'm heading out. I'll come back later. Make sure they don't destroy anything."

"Sure thing Droog!" 

Before heading out the door Droog took another look down the stairs, it looked quite domestic. Deuce sitting on the floor, the kids on the couch, playing whatever card game they knew. Droog closed the stair door behind him with a sigh.

 

\---

 

Walks were a good way of clearing his mind. As he walked he lit a cigarette and started thinking of the situation. Sure, Slick wasn't stoked about it, and Boxcars didn't seem super content either, although he tolerated it. But that really shouldn't be a surprise, it's not like Slick was easy to deal with under normal circumstances either, so why would he go along with this? Hopefully, he could make it work anyway because somewhere he actually  _wanted_ the children to have it good, and returning them to an orphanage really wasn't a guarantee for that. The best thing he could do would be to hire a Nanny, and even though Slick had protested Droog was almost certain that the nurse Slick seemed so intent on courting, would agree on it. She seemed nice enough, and a nurse really didn't have the best salary, she could certainly do with the extra money. Droog decided to give her a call, he'd gotten her number as soon as he'd started to realize Slick might be interested in her for other reasons than the eventual bullet needing to be removed. Not like he had ever intended on doing anything with it, but you can never have too many contacts nearby. 

He dialled her number as he walked, waiting for her to pick up. After a minute or so there came a click.

"Hello?" A nice sounding female voice answered.

"Ah, yes. Is this Miss Painter? The nurse at the Greenlands Hospital Center?" Droog was almost certain it was her, but no harm in asking.

"That would be me!"

"Great, then I assume you're familiar with someone named Jack Slick?"

The voice on the other end let out a small laugh, "Sure do, why?"

"I'm one of his friends, I'm certain you've seen me in his company some time. Quite tall, smartly dressed. I run the tailor shop at Carapace Street?"

"Oh, I know you! Why do you call? Anything about Jack?" She sounded curious.

"Well, to an extent. You see, my nephews and my niece are staying with me for a while. However, I can't take care of them while running my shop, and, to be completely honest, I don't know much about child care. The reason I call you about this is that Jack has mentioned that you'd like to work with kids. Of course, you have no obligation at all to accept, I simply thought I'd give the offer. And it would feel safer with someone there is some kind of connection to." The lies slipped out easily, he wasn't really sure where they had come from. But it was better than nothing. 

It was quiet for a moment. "That sounds lovely! Of course, it depends on when I have my shifts, but I should be free on most weekends, and I quit work at around six." 

"Marvelous. I'll send you the address and possible times I'll need your help. Would 15 dollars per hour work for you or do you want anything higher?"

"That works great, sir!"

"Glad to hear it, I'll give you a call when everything's worked out."

"Lovely! Have a good day, sir!"

"To you as well, miss."

 He hung up and put the phone back in his pocket. That was one thing finished. Now he needed to buy clothes. It was a good thing that his shop was so central as it wouldn't be very far to carry any bags, and there were plenty of stores around. Even after his short walk, it was only about ten minutes to come back to the centrum and start looking for fitting shops. He walked past a few with clothes way too garish for his taste, finally, he settled on one named _"Picked"_

 As he entered he heard the bell ring over his head and he wiped his shows off at the welcome mat inside. It wasn't a very big shop, although there were plenty of places to store things. The walls were all lined with high wooden shelves with various neatly folded the clothes, as well as some tables and a few racks with kid's sized shirts and pants on hangers. The pay desk was in the middle of the shop and behind it sat a young man reading a book. He gave Droog a polite nod and a smile as he saw him enter.

"Need any help?" He asked.

"Just looking, thanks." Droog stepped into the shop and started looking at the different clothes. He wasn't sure what children liked to wear, but he figured that from living in an orphanage they wouldn't be too picky. Who even knew how long they'd have those clothes. There was no doubt about them needing new ones, preferably a few shirts and pair of pants each. New shoes and jackets would also be good.

 Judging from kids he had seen in town, and the eventual TV-show or movie, children liked to wear bright colours and patterns. Droog decided that if any of the kids would want something specific they would have to come with requests and look themselves, for now, it would have to do with generic one coloured and possibly striped shirts. After walking around the entire store looking at almost each shirt he settled for one black, one coloured, and one striped shirt each. He then took one pair of jeans and one pair of pants for them and a black skirt for Aradia as well. He also took some pairs of socks and underwear as that would be needed as well. 

"Kids need a new wardrobe?" The cashier jokingly asked as he was paying for all of it.

"Something along those lines." He thanked the cashier, took his bags, and went back out on the street.

There were other things he'd need to buy too. Toothbrushes, hygienic products, towels,  _beds_. The list went on. Droog checked his watch, it was a bit over one p.m. so he would have time to do some more shopping before returning to the apartment. He had bought some pasta and other food items while buying the breakfast so if anyone got hungry Deuce could probably cook something up. 

 He sent a quick text telling Deuce where the food was in case anyone got hungry and continued with his mental list as he walked. Children were expensive, was his conclusion. There were so many things needed to buy and do that he would never have thought of before, he was lucky for the extra money the illegal jobs gave him. The shop was a steady source of income sure, but four extra mouths would be difficult for anyone. _"Doesn't people normally get child-benefits?"_ He thought to himself. _"They do. I'll have to fix that."_  He knew people who could fix that kind of paperwork, and that would be necessary for other things too. It would be difficult for anyone to explain where four extra kids came from, but if you don't have papers it would be impossible.

 He'd simply have to adopt them. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm alive!! I'll either see you again in a few days or a year there is no in between.


End file.
